Maternity garment



y 1950 R. M. SMITH MATERNITY GARMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 4, 1947 y ,1950 R. M. SMITH 2,507,463

MATERNITY GARMENT Filed 'oct. 4, 1947 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Patented May 9, 1950 2,507,415. 2; MA'EERNITY GARMENT "Rita ujsfii th, npiekrqiagin. Applicatiqm Ootober I, 1947,-Seri"al News-95s it 03.01am; :1

This; invention: relates to a newandrimprov ed easilyadjustable; maternity :garment designed, to enahle.,keeping:.the hemline; even throughout; the entire pregnancy.

I am; aware-that: manygarment 1 constructions oi an more ord less praetical :nature have been devised-for "this; purpose, but most of thosewith whichl am familiar were;mther complicated and expensive and not easy to adjust to.-, the desired nicetm and they-presented a poor janq rather mjalmshift:'annearance.v Infant, some v of .the acliustmentswere se ill-appearing, they were; suit;- able-only for use on slips, -nqt;;dresse s. It 1 is, thereore, theprimipal obieot oi n ty invention to; provide amaternity dziess or blouse for; sueh an dress, that; avoids-tithe nobjections;mentioneq, 53nd one, whichpresents aneatand attraotii e ppearanceimall: stages.10f;acliu-stmeiztt;

Aasal-ient featureot-the blouse; of my invention iszthe; provision: of airont, the. waistline oi .whieh is, out on: adownward-curve,1fron?; both sicles of the front fromvthenatural waistline to a g t in depth below the natural waistline at ethe middle. drawstring tunnels, being -p'r oyided spaced relation anclfextending in an up an i. down direction, apgroxiniately radially "re eumed. waistline,- individually at table dfa & strings; being provided, in saidQtttnn s enabl ng quick and easy vertioal aeiustment name skirt front fromtime meme tov maiili aill anteve' i v I 30 formed. betw n the. b1

em hrdu ho it r hit ie e edge portion at the blouse; ffitoi it sewn, tQ, a straight ton fikift sfojthat the skirt 1 "esfnonf'e of its-original linesh" Thehgatheted mate al 'in th e front, of the .bIoiisegives a Shirred 'efi'eet, i's pleasi-ngto the, thesarne hav g more of an ornamental, efieczt than ant" '1, arian; appearanceh Av drawstring waistline is at present. be} lieved to he most practical with this tertibal ad'- jusltment, hutjothjer forms -of horizontal or girth I adjustments maybe used, I

The invention isxillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and;2 -ai:ejront views-10f a maternity dress turned" inside out, so as to "show the spe- 20 middle starting at the. atnral w 1st lati've toqs d 10 skirt m which the bl seliss w ti eesiius nea incol'polr tediin 'fihfieblQllSQ front: ga'ccorglane'e withzmytinventiembeins,idesisne lto enable ke p: ing. the; line Y of; the hem ill substantially even hmughmttspresnanc ym shand-s m lezhas 15 jnstments'gmadegfrom time to time as .theneed f r m mmal? hewais line o he;.i i itiswi QI'W aow wa e v z s i-iivm he d of the seams l2 at the-.onpositesides towardthe I level u e g; gradually to an pth fabo 1t l t. v fz fle fi fi d he-n t ml r 1ine.,l o;\ rel;at rnielcllefthusgi ing, an 'fextrai illness centrally of the blotisetrontat the-waistline.

25 Facing material H, of light weight relation to. the .matenal of the louse .fi'ont 91s out to foo e1: theuin's d ofqtn bl tee front "to aneleya- 'tion.;. bot1't three-inches. above j hejna i ra'l Warm?- i an ie n t h es..ofi hat a se nt, la f amst ii e rawstr nnel ar t ,erftl ont Q and fa9if [I y ewn a 1. at nti' f l arel lu i i s. '1 2 illneet the .tunn'l thq ver extending 9 n a lyf Y llt and. .c mf re l s a hints: n? ,j iw sssu d el approximating j q mw irdo y utv dwa tl nqlfi. h

it leav n -tn free fd i i rwm' i upper ends '01 the mien; snap-fasteners 18 are 1 477. inte v s etc, h re n o v to: Withinabbiit twdin0hes of Short ser es ef 10m; i9 v ing N we the lower ends of the tunnels" wand-"have mating Snap fasteners mlfforthe snab fasteners i8 sewn thereon, the

ltieseri dsjofthe qr wstrrin 's is being fasteneil h5 ;j' entering; snap. fasteners 23': iii-the appropria'te associated fasteners 98;- according-to J u depth 6. new aijc ip'uritatliiieldesird i or. the waistime fiat-a given time.

The blouse. front is sewn along line If: to the top of the straight top skirt 8. The skirt obviously loses none of its original lines by reason of my specially designed blouse and will therefore hang properly and have an even hemline when the blouse is correctly adjusted. The fact that the drawstrings it are individually adjustable and along lines extending substantially radially relative to the expansible and contractible area of the blouse front insures even shirring of the material gathered in any intermediate stage of adjustment, thus maintaining a nice and really decorative appearance for this portion of the blouse front. The middle string I8 is usually adjusted and fastened first and then the strings on opposite sides are adjusted and fastened one at a time, beings'ure to keep an even hemline at whatever elevation was first determined by the adjustment and fastening of the middle string. If preferred, the snap fasteners i8 and 20 may be omitted and tie strings used instead, the loose end of a string extending from the upper end of a tunnel l3 being tied to a projecting end portion of the string on the fastened lower end. So much for the vertical adjustment.

Turning now to Figs. 3 and 4, a drawstring or belt 2i is shown which encircles the waist inside a tunnel 22 provided therefor. The ends of this drawstring or belt are adapted to be drawn up and tied in a neat bow at the front, as indicated at 23, in Fig. 4, after which the gathers in the material will be distributed more or less even- 13; around the waist, for a good appearance. While I have shown the tie at the front, it may be at the back, if preferred. This kind of horizom ta adjustment is at present regarded. as the most practical with my improved vertical adj ustment, although other forms of horizontal adjustments may obviously be used.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. A maternity garment'comprising a blouse the front of which is joined to the back by seams at opposite sides and has the waistline portion cut on a downward curve from the natural waistline starting from the ends of said seams and curving gradually to a predetermined extent below the natural waistline to define a fullness area therein, a straight top skirt to which the waistline por- .tion of the blouse just described is sewn all around leaving the fullness in the lower portion of the blouse front, the waistline portion of the skirt having fullness in proportion to the described fullness of the lower front portion of the blouse, means to take up in substantially horizontally extending gathers the fullness in the blouse so as to make the skirt hang with an even hemline, the gathers adding decorativeness to the blouse front, and means to take up circumferentially the fullness in the waistline portion of the skirt.

2. A maternity garment comprising a blouse the front of which is joined to the back by seams at opposite sides and has the waistline portion cut on a downward curve from the natural waistline starting from the ends of said seams and curving gradually to a predetermined extent below the natural waistline to define a fullness area therein, a straight top skirt to which the waistline portion of the blouse just described is sewn .all around leaving the fullnessin the lower portion of the blouse front, the waistline portion of the skirt having fullness in proportion to the described fullness of the blouse, drawstring means in laterally spaced relation on the inside of the lower front portion of the blouse to take up in substantially horizontally extending gathers the fullness in the lower front portion of the blouse so as to make the skirt hang with an even hemline, the gathers adding decorativeness to the blouse front, and means to take up oircumferentially the fullness in the waistline portion of the skirt.

3. A garment as set forth in claim 2, wherein said drawstring means comprises a plurality of drawstring guide tunnels provided in laterally spaced relation extending up and down the back of the fullness area of the blouse front, and

= drawstrings extending through said tunnels and Number arranged to be adjusted in length and fastened to maintain the adjustment.

4. A garment as set forth in claim 2, wherein said drawstring means comprises a plurality of drawstring guide tunnels provided in laterally spaced relation extending in upwardly converging relation substantially radially relative to the curved waistline up and down the back of the fullness area of the blouse front, and drawstrings extending through said tunnels and arranged to be adjusted in length and fastened to maintain the adjustment.

5. For use with the skirt portion of a maternity garment, a maternity blouse constructed for joining at its waistline to the skirt and comprising a front joined to a back by seams at opposite sides and having the waistline portion cut on a downward curve from the natural waistline starting from the ends of said seams and curving gradually to a predetermined extent below the natural waistline to define a fullness area therein, a plurality of drawstring guide tunnels provided in laterally spaced relation extending up and down the back of the fullness area of the blouse front, and drawstrings extending through said tunnels and arranged to be adjusted in length and fastened to maintain the adjustment.

6. For use with the skirt portion of a maternity garment, a maternity blouse constructed for him ing at its waistline to the skirt and comprising a front joined to a back by seams at opposite sides and having the waistline portion out on a down ward curve from the natural waistline starting from the ends of said seams and curving gradually to a predetermined extent below the natural waistline to define a fullness area therein, a plurality of drawstring guide tunnels provided in laterally spaced relation extending in upwardly converging relation substantially radially relative to the curved waistline up and down the back of the fullness area of the blouse front, and drawstrings extending through said tunnels and arranged to be adjusted in length and fastened to maintain the adjustment.

RITA M. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 776,324 Hirsch Nov. 29, 1904 1,174,316 Hartmann Mar. '7, 1916 2,299,996 Kremer Oct. 27, 1942 2,431,466. Craig Nov. 25, 1947 2,431,809

Karet Dec. 2, 1947 

